Why Hire Pro Rug Cleaners?

You know it’s important to keep your rug clean, but can you do this yourself, or should you hire professional rug cleaners to do it? Our tips can help you decide when to schedule a cleaning appointment with the best local rug cleaning company!

Method – High quality handknotted Oriental rugs need to be cleaned using specific methods. The best way to clean your Persian rugs is in a rug bath, where the method of washing emulates the river currents of ancient times.
Skill – To get your area rug truly clean takes skill and training. When your rug needs to be deep cleaned with water and cleaning solutions and not just “spot cleaned,” you need to call on a great rug cleaning service that invests time and training into their technicians in order to guarantee great results.
Safety – Hiring professional rug cleaners to clean your Oriental rug is safer for your rug. If you clean your rug yourself, do you know what to do if the rug starts bleeding dye? Highly trained rug cleaning experts do know how to handle this. If you clean your Oriental rug yourself, you risk damaging it; if you call on a good rug cleaning company like RugPro, you can rest assured your rug will be cleaned well and without incident.
Customized Cleaning – A great rug cleaning company values custom cleaning and will take the time to understand your rug’s makeup, history, problem areas, usage, etc., along with your desired results, and the technicians will then design and implement the best cleaning routine based on that information. As a result, your rug receives the best possible cleaning, you love the way it looks and feels afterward, and it’s ready to be enjoyed for time to come!
Cost Effective – It may seem counterintuitive but calling on highly rated rug cleaning professionals can save you money. By the time you rent the cleaning equipment you need, figure out how to use it, and spend the day cleaning your rug, you will have spent much of your time, money, and energy that could have been spent doing something else, something that you love. Trust your rug to a great rug cleaner, and then just relax. Your rug will look great, and you won’t need to have worried about it.

There are many great Jacksonville rug cleaning companies, but RugPro is the trusted professional rug cleaner for homeowners throughout Atlantic Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach, Mandarin, Southside, Riverside, and the greater Jacksonville area. We love what we do and it shows! We have rave reviews and devoted customers, and we’d love to provide the same level of service to you and your rugs.

How Often Do I Clean My Rug?

A common question that rug owners and collectors ask us is, “How often should I clean my Oriental rug?” Many factors can determine how frequently to have your area rugs professionally cleaned, but a great starting point is this:

Dusting / Dry Soil Removal – Recommended every 6-12 months
Maintenance Cleaning – Recommended every 12-18 months
Deep Cleaning – Recommended every 2-3 years
Restorative Cleaning – Recommended upon severe contamination

Plenty of factors help to determine how often you should clean your area rugs, such as:

Placement & Traffic – Where is the rug located? If it’s tucked away in a rarely used guestroom, you might not need to have it professionally cleaned as frequently as that timeline suggests. Or, if it’s right at the entrance to your house, and your family and guests track dirt and sand and debris onto it every day, you’ll need to have it cleaned more frequently than just once every year or year and a half, as the timeline suggests.
Pets & Kids – Who else lives in your home? If you have pets that shed fur or perhaps aren’t completely housebroken yet, or if you have young kids that are prone to spilling snacks or creating other messes, you’ll need to have your rug cleaned more frequently in order to keep it in good repair and looking great.
Style & Construction – Sometimes even the construction of your rug can determine how frequently you need to have it professionally cleaned. For example, if you have a rug with very low pile, you may be able to effectively keep it very clean with routine vacuuming, whereas if your rug has very dense silk fibers, though routine vacuuming will help keep it in good shape, professional dusting and cleaning will be needed routinely.

Your rug is an investment and a beautiful element to your home’s ambiance and décor, and one of the best ways to ensure it stays in great shape for you to enjoy for years is to schedule routine cleaning with a highly rated professional rug cleaning company in your area.

RugPro is the best rug cleaning service Jacksonville FL homeowners trust with their Turkish, Navajo, Chinese, Persian, and other handknotted area rugs. We’ve served Nocatee, Ponte Vedra, Mandarin, Riverside, San Marco, and downtown Jacksonville for years and have become the trusted local rug cleaning service. We’d love to help keep your rug in beautiful condition with deep cleaning, maintenance cleaning, or restorative cleaning.

How NOT to Clean Your Rug

High quality wool or silk area rugs last for decades – or longer! – when handled, cleaned, and cared for the right way. It’s also important to know how not to clean your beautiful Persian and Oriental rug! These beautiful rugs are, in essence, handmade works of art, and certain cleaning methods can cause damage to them. Here are tips from professional rug cleaners to help you avoid any dangerous or damaging rug cleaning methods:

No Scrubbing – The aggressive motion of scrubbing can damage or break the fibers of a wool or silk rug, ultimately causing the torn fibers to create fuzz along the surface of the rug. Broken and scratched fibers also cause a rug to look dull and lose its beautiful sheen. Even if you use a gentle scrubbing motion, the item you use to clean the rug may also cause damage. Avoid abrasive brushes and bristles for this reason. Rather than scrub or use abrasive supplies, blot away spills or moisture as soon as you notice such an issue. Use a paper towel or clean white towel so that you can see the spill as it is absorbed and continue blotting until you have removed as much as possible of the spill.
No Steam Cleaning – Do not use steam cleaning, or even very hot water to clean Oriental rugs. Hot water can cause the rug fibers to shrink, warp, or twist, and can cause dyes to bleed. High quality rugs are colored with vegetal dyes, and these dyes can be very unstable and bleed easily. Be sure to keep the water temperature under 150-degrees during cleaning, and better still, simply leave wet cleaning to a highly rated professional rug cleaning company.
No Abrasive Cleaners – Wool fibers and silk fibers, though they are very strong, are also sensitive and harsh chemicals can case severe damage to them. Use cleaners with neutral pH levels, and always read any label on your rug or information from the manufacturer before applying a cleaning solution to it. Even when you find a cleaning agent you feel comfortable using, be sure to first test a small, inconspicuous area on the rug, typically on the backside of the rug, to be sure the chemical cleaner will not cause damage.

Rug cleaning is highly specialized work, and for the best results that do not damage your beautiful rugs, it’s recommended that you call on a good local rug cleaning service to provide professional cleaning. RugPro Oriental Rug Cleaning is the best rug cleaning company Jacksonville FL customers trust with their handmade rugs. We serve customers throughout Riverside, Ponte Vedra Beach, Southside, Atlantic Beach, and throughout Jacksonville, and they love the results every time! We’d love the opportunity to take care of your beautiful area rugs too, beginning with a free in-person quote. Let’s get started!

What’s Hiding in My Wool Rug?

One of the things that makes handknotted wool and silk area rugs so exquisite is the density of the weave. However, it’s this very feature that also allows dust and debris to get trapped in Oriental and Persian rugs, leading to degradation of the rug. Here are a few of the things that might be lurking in your favorite area rug and need to be removed:

SAND – If you live in Ponte Vedra, Atlantic Beach, or anywhere along the beaches, there will be sand in your rug’s fibers, and this can be detrimental. The coarse sand particles etch away at your rug’s fibers, causing them to dull prematurely and even break.
SOIL – Even extremely conscientious homeowners must face dust and soil buildup in their Persian rugs. Dust, dander, and fine soil get tracked or blown inside and make their way to your rug’s fibers and backing. Routine vacuuming is the best way to keep dust and soil buildup under control, but even with weekly vacuuming, your rug benefits profoundly from highly rated professional rug cleaning.
ODORS – Spilled food or drink, smoke, pet “accidents,” and other spills and mishaps happen, and if there’s an odor attached, that odor can linger in your rug’s fibers long after the spill is blotted away.
MILDEW – If your rug has been in storage, particularly if it was not correctly rolled and readied for storage, it could have mildew or mold in the fibers. Rugs that have been exposed to moisture can develop a mold or mildew infestation that will only grow until properly handled, typically by a good professional rug cleaning service.
BUGS – Fleas, dust mites, and other minuscule bugs can prowl undetected in a wool or silk area rug before finally springing onto an unsuspecting family member or visitor. Rid your Oriental rug of such infestations with a custom cleaning from the best rug cleaning company in your area.

The best way to get dense, luxurious rugs thoroughly clean is by professional deep cleaning by hand. There are many good Jacksonville rug cleaning companies, but the best professional rug cleaners offer completely customized cleanings, which often include deep cleaning in a rug bath. Your rug deserves quality care, and indeed quality care will keep it in great shape for decades to come!

What is Abrash?

Handknotted rugs, like any handmade work of art, have inherent characteristics that add to their uniqueness and appeal. Abrash is one of those characteristics that appears in fine Persian and Oriental rugs and adds a layer of intrigue and beauty, and for most rug collectors, desirability.

“Abrash,” which comes from the Arabic word for “mottled,” appears as variations of a single color within a rug’s field. Most commonly, these color variations appear as lines or striations on the rug, though they can also appear as dappling or flecks. These color variations range from barely noticeable to dramatic. So if you’re looking at a deep green field on your oriental rug but you see paler green lines or flecks running horizontally across the field, you’re probably looking at abrash.

The abrash effect is the result of variances in the dyeing process. One batch of dye may have more pigmentation. With vegetable dyes in particular, variations can occur among batches or even within the same batch of dye. Indigo, rose madder, saffron, and other such raw materials that are sourced for their pigmentation are found in nature, and can be affected by something as seemingly innocuous as location or changes in weather. Even the way the fibers are twisted can affect the absorption of dye and cause one spool of yarn to be slightly different in color than that of another spool.

When the rug is then being created on the loom, the weaver will replace the spool when the thread runs out. Though the new yarn may be identified as the same color, the changes during the dye process mean the color won’t necessarily be an exact match. So, the lines or mottling of abrash are really the specific areas where new thread was incorporated during the handknotting process. To an untrained eye, abrash may be misconceived as a flaw in the dyeing or weaving process. In reality, it is an earmark of handcraft, and a desirable and highly sought feature of hand-knotted rugs.

Abrash is just one example of the exquisite features of handmade rugs. Such treasures need to be routinely cleaned, not only with weekly vacuuming and general maintenance, but also with routine cleaning by a highly rated professional rug cleaning company. RugPro Oriental Rug Cleaning is the best local rug cleaning service Jacksonville FL homeowners depend on for their rug cleaning and care. We’ve cared for and deep cleaned Persian rugs for homeowners throughout Jacksonville, Fleming Island, Nocatee, Ponte Vedra Beach, and throughout the region, and we’d love for you to trust us with your fine area rugs. You’ll love the results of a RugPro rug cleaning!

3 Things to Avoid When Cleaning Your Wool Rug

Hand knotted wool rugs represent a large but worthwhile investment. When the time comes to clean your Oriental or Persian area rugs, you want to take every precaution to be sure the rug is cleaned thoroughly but safely. Some of the best things you can do for your wool area rug are routine vacuuming, typically at least weekly, removing shoes while inside the house, and working to remove any spill or stain quickly.

When it comes to wool rug cleaning, it’s just as important to be aware of what NOT to do when cleaning them. Here are three very important things to avoid when cleaning an Oriental wool rug:

Do not scrub the rug. The scrubbing motion is far too abrasive for wool fibers and will cause them to frizz up and make the surface of the rug fuzzy. Instead of using a scrubbing motion or technique, just gently blot the area, typically with a clean cloth or paper towel.
Avoid using hot water to clean the rug. Persian rugs cannot be steam cleaned because the extremely hot water can cause the fibers to shrink or twist. If the dyes in the rug are not colorfast, hot water can enable them to bleed. If using water to clean your rug, it is ideal use cool water to help prevent any type of warping or discoloration.
Don’t use abrasive or acidic cleaners or harsh chemicals on your wool rug. Though wool is extremely durable, the fibers are also very sensitive to harsh cleaners and can weaken and even break. Be sure any cleaning solution you use to clean your Oriental rug has a pH level between five and eight.

Cleaning high quality wool Persian rugs is an art form, and it’s wise to trust this important job to a trusted professional rug cleaning service in your area. When researching the best local rug cleaners, look for a company that cleans rugs thoroughly and gently, with custom cleaning plans to fit the unique needs of the rug.

RugPro Oriental Rug Cleaning is the best area rug cleaner Jacksonville FL residents trust with their finest wool area rugs. We pride ourselves in high quality rug cleaning specifically designed to fit the needs of the rug as well as the desires of the customer. Our repeat customers throughout Jacksonville FL in Mandarin, Riverside, Ortega, San Marco, and Atlantic Beach call on use whenever their rugs need anything from routine dusting, to maintenance cleaning, to stain removal, and even restoration after a rug has been neglected or left in storage. Call on us and let us provide quality cleaning for your treasured rugs.

How To Protect Your Rug From Heavy Furniture

Heavy furniture leaves indentations on carpet and rugs, and you may wonder if this will cause lasting damage to your beloved Oriental or Persian rug. Most indentations gradually disappear over time, and you can help them along by placing an ice cube over the sunken area. However, in some cases, depending on the fragility of the rug, the weight of the furniture, the material and condition of the furniture’s legs, and other issues, you could risk doing damage to the rug.

We recommend protecting your rug from heavy furniture in these ways:

Move Furniture When Vacuuming – Whenever you move furniture to vacuum your rug, reposition the furniture so that it is slightly different than before. In other words, don’t place the feet of the furniture back into the indentions that they left in the rug; let those areas have a rest.
Use a Rug Pad – A good quality rug pad, in the appropriate dimensions for your rug, will do a lot to protect and preserve your rug. It also helps to keep the rug in place and prevent it from bunching or folding.
Use Furniture Pads – Protect your rug on both sides by ensuring a rug pad is properly in place, and also that there are pads underneath all furniture legs. Larger or heavier items, such as entertainment centers or pianos should have larger dent protectors underneath them in order to disperse the weight over a larger area over the rug.

With the right precautions, your heavy sofa, overstuffed chairs, and grand piano can indeed be placed on your favorite area rugs with very little risk. And when the time comes to dust or deep clean the rugs, trust them to a highly rated local rug cleaning company like RugPro!

RugPro is the best rug cleaning company Jacksonville FL, Riverside Avondale, San Marco, and Ponte Vedra Beach homeowners rely on for Oriental rug cleaning and care. We’re the trusted rug cleaners in your area and would love to deep clean or restore your rug for you.

7 Common Stains (and How to Get Them Out of Your Oriental Rug)

When the inevitable spills occur, it’s important to act quickly so the spill doesn’t have a chance to become a stain in your beautiful Oriental rug. Here’s a reference sheet to quickly address common household spills and stains:

Pet Urine– Blot with cold water, then use a cleaning solution of one teaspoon of clear dishwashing fluid mixed with one cup of cold water. Continue rinsing with cold water until the urine and the cleaning solution are removed completely.
Wine– First, apply a rust remover solution to the affected area. When the area has dried, blot it with cold water and use a cleaning solution of one teaspoon of clear dishwashing fluid mixed with one cup of warm water.
Blood– Blot thoroughly with cold water. Then use a cleaning solution of one teaspoon of clear dishwashing fluid mixed with one cup of cold water. Rinse the entire area with cold water until the blood and cleaning solution are removed completely.
Juice– Blot with cold water, and then clean the area with a cleaning solution of one teaspoon of clear dishwashing fluid mixed with one cup of warm water.
Vomit– Use a cleaning solution of one teaspoon of clear dishwashing fluid mixed with one cup of cold water. Rinse the area thoroughly.
Coffee– Blot the affected area with cold water. Make a cleaning solution of one teaspoon of dishwashing fluid mixed with one cup of warm water. When the area has dried, apply a dry-cleaning solvent until you are satisfied with the results.
Milk– Blot the area with warm water. Once the area has dried, apply a dry-cleaning solvent. Finally, use a cleaning solution of one teaspoon of dishwashing fluid mixed with one cup of warm water.

Spills happen even when we’re careful, but luckily most common spills can be addressed with these tips. Remember that every rug is different, and these cleaning processes may not be suitable for your Persian rug or wool area rug. It’s best to have a highly rated Jacksonville rug cleaning company clean your rug routinely, as well as after spills occur. The best professional rug cleaning companies have the tools, cleaning solutions, and expertise to clean nearly any type of stain or spot. RugPro Oriental Rug Cleaning is the best professional rug cleaning company Jacksonville FL homeowners call on for their rug stains, spots, and spills. Join your Atlantic Beach, Mandarin, and Riverside neighbors and call on RugPro to give your favorite rug the cleaning it deserves!

Vacuuming v. Rug Dusting

Homeowners and rug collectors know the importance of routine vacuuming, but what’s the difference between weekly or biweekly vacuuming and professional rug dusting?

Frequency– We recommend vacuuming your Oriental rugs weekly.High traffic areas benefit from being vacuumed more frequently. You should also routinely flip the rug over and vacuum the underside as well. (It’s a good idea to rotate the rugs at this time to avoid the rugs getting worn in certain paths and areas.) Rug dusting, on the other hand, is recommended every 6-12 months.
Equipment– When you vacuum your rug, you can just use the upright vacuum you use to clean your carpet, though you’ll want to be sure the beater brush is raised as high as it can go. Rug dusting requires the use of a significantly stronger machine. Great rug cleaning companies such as RugPro use the “Rug Badger.” In a rug dusting scenario, the rug is splayed over a grate, and the Rug Badger is slowly pushed over the rug. The machine produces thousands of harmonic vibrations per minute, which loosen the debris, dust, and dander in the rug and release it into the grates underneath it.
Thoroughness– Vacuuming is useful and necessary in terms of weekly maintenance and keeping dust and dander at bay. Rug dusting, however, is exponentially more thorough, often removing several pounds of dust and debris from the fibers and backing of a wool area rug!
Preservation– So, which is better for preserving your rug for decades to come? The answer is: both. Weekly vacuuming is an effective and convenient way to maintain your rug by routinely ridding it of as much dry soil as possible. Rug dusting is necessary in order to remove far more dust and dirt routinely. Rug dusting is also the important first step in deep cleaning any Oriental or Persian rug.

A great local rug cleaning service is outfitted with the best cleaning solutions and equipment for cleaning fine area rugs thoroughly and gently. Find a great rug cleaner in your area to trust with your rugs!

RugPro Oriental Rug Cleaning is the best Jacksonville FL rug cleaning service homeowners in Northeast Florida, Mandarin, Queen’s Harbour and Riverside depend on for cleaning and care of their rugs. Keep your rug soft, clean, and in great shape with routine cleaning at our professional rug cleaning shop!

Should My Rug Be Cleaned in My Home or in a Facility?

You may be wondering if it’s possible to have your area rug cleaned within your home. There are many good Jacksonville FL rug cleaning companies, and certain ones do offer this service. However, though this seems convenient, it is not recommended. Here’s why:

Cleaning Rugs Inside a Home May Cause Damage to the Home– Rug cleaning is like any cleaning project: considerable water and cleaning solutions are required in order to get the rug thoroughly cleaned. If a rug is cleaned inside your home, the cleaning process could cause damage to areas of the home, including the underlying floor and nearby furniture. For a rug to be successfully cleaned, it often needs to be submerged in a rug bath where moving water can circulate through the fibers and truly give the rug a deep clean. Even if dry cleaning solutions are used on a rug, they cannot be used inside a house without risking damage to the surrounding space.
Rugs Require Specialized Equipment– Fine wool Oriental and Persian rugs cannot be cleaned using ordinary cleaning equipment. Though they do benefit from traditional vacuuming, they need specialized dusting machinery to truly loosen and remove the debris and dust from deep within the dense fibers. Furthermore, they typically need to be spread out in a large-scale bath, and then have the water squeegeed out using heavy duty equipment. Finally, they need to be dried on a float table or hung from a drying tower. This equipment cannot be transported from house to house. Instead, a rug must be taken to the rug cleaning facility to experience a true, customized deep cleaning.
Rugs Require Specially Trained Technicians– If a company offers to clean a rug in your home, chances are they’re part of a carpet cleaning company. Carpet cleaners are trained specifically to clean carpet. This means your handknotted silk Persian rug would be cleaned using the same method and skills as would be used on standard acrylic carpet. As you can imagine, your rug (and you) will be left wanting. Though a synthetic area rug could theoretically be successfully cleaned by a carpet cleaner, your silk or wool Oriental rug would likely sustain damage if it were to undergo the standard carpet cleaning process.

In some very rare instances, exceedingly large rugs do need to be cleaned in place, rather than in the rug cleaning facility. In these rare but important situations, a professional rug cleaning expert will need to perform the cleaning process. The rug expert will have a specific protocol for oversized rugs and will take all the precautions to thoroughly clean your rug while protecting the surrounding area.

The best rug cleaning company Jacksonville FL homeowners trust with their rugs is RugPro Oriental Rug Cleaning. We offer the most thorough deep cleaning process available, and most importantly, we handle your beautiful rugs with the highest possible standard of care. We’re the trusted rug cleaning service for homes and rugs throughout Riverside, St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra, Nocatee, and Jacksonville, and we’d love to provide your Oriental rug with a quality, deep cleaning